Jeri Smith-Ready

Monday, January 04, 2010

Happy New Year! I'm thrilled to start things off by introducing you to one of my fellow travelers on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit, Eileen Cook. Her latest novel, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, comes out tomorrow.

Popularity is the best revenge.

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

Some fantastic authors had lovely things to say about Eileen's previous book, What Would Emma Do?

“Sassy and sly and sweet all at the same time, this book made me laugh out loud.” --Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Airhead

“Not since Judy Blume's Margaret introduced herself to God has there been such a funny, genuine, conflicted, wanna-be-sorta-good-maybe-later girl as Emma. Cook's tone as she takes on the big ones—life, love, faith, and friendship—is pitch perfect.”--Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Midnight Twins and The Deep End of the Ocean

"Smart and fun and full of heart." --Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and How to Be Bad

---

And now, my interview with Eileen:

1. If you could inhabit the life of any of your characters, enter their world and deal with it as that person, which one would you choose?

I like all my characters, but I’m also mean to them. As the writer I seem to go about making their lives as miserable as possible. I’m not sure I would want to be any of them in the middle of the book- unless I already knew how things would work out!

2. What's the weirdest tidbit of research you've ever incorporated into a book?

My first book, Unpredictable, was about a woman who pretends to be a psychic to get her ex-boyfriend back. When I was researching the novel I went to over a dozen psychics looking at how they did their readings. There were some that seemed to have some interesting abilities, but there were some that after awhile I figured out how they were faking it. It was a ton of fun.

3. What's your earliest memory?

I remember at Christmas I was small enough to lie under the Christmas tree and it was almost like a living green tent. I loved the smell of the pine and the lights. My parents would act like they didn’t know I was under there and I thought I was very clever.

When I was older I used to be so sad when it came time to take down the tree. I would cry. My parents would get me out of the house, take down the tree and then leave a note to me from the tree saying it had to go back to the forest to be with his family. I had no idea there was such a thing as The Chipper.

4. Do you have any phobias?

One of the downsides of being a writer is that you have a very active imagination. I can freak myself out without even trying hard. Once I woke up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom and saw that there was a spider hanging mere inches from my face. I stayed up the rest of the night thinking about how it could have kept lowering itself until it was ON MY FACE. What if it crawled into my nose and laid spider baby eggs in my sinus cavity? Would they eat my brain? Would I go crazy?

I also have a fear of dentists, but I don’t think that is irrational. People who stick sharp pointy sticks into your gums and use power tools on your teeth are scary.

5. Which author, living or dead, would you most love to collaborate with?

Oooh hard question. There are so many great writers that I would love to work with. If I have to pick just one, (versus taking your blog over for months at a time while I go through the list) I would pick Judy Blume. I loved her books growing up and I really admire her career and involvement in the community. Plus, who wouldn’t want to say they had Judy Blume as a friend?

---

About the Author

Eileen Cook spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer. When she was unable to find any job postings for world famous author, she went to Michigan State University and became a counselor so she could at least afford her book buying habit. But real people have real problems, so she returned to writing because she liked having the ability to control the ending. Which is much harder with humans.

You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.